Wabasha County

One man is dead after driving off a roadway in southeastern Minnesota Friday evening. According to police, 55-year-old Joseph Simek, of Lonsdale, was traveling eastbound on Highway 60 a little before 9 p.m. on Friday.

A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a group of current and former Minnesota residents who allege that dozens of public employees violated their privacy by illegally looking up their driver’s license data for political reasons. The 18 plaintiffs, including some local elected officials, claimed they were targeted because they had been critical of Wabasha County government.

There’s a potentially deadly weed growing in Minnesota. Now, the Department of Agriculture is asking for your help in identifying and eliminating it. It’s called Grecian foxglove and there’s concern the leafy portions could be mistaken for lettuce, and it can be lethal to humans and livestock.

The Minnesota Board on Judicial Standards has publicly reprimanded Wabasha County Judge Terrence M. Walters for rules violations. The board says in one case, Walters was discourteous to a deaf psychologist who was being retained to see if a deaf defendant was competent. The psychologist withdrew.

Eighteen people say dozens of public workers across the state violated their privacy by looking up their personal data. The group is filing a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Minnesota on Thursday against more than 50 counties, municipalities and multiple state officials.

The citizens of Wabasha are suing their county and the state over an illegal safe driving class program, according to a press release from attorneys Mohrman & Kaardal. After the Wabasha County Board of Commissioners refused to hear a resolution to stop the Wabasha County Sheriff’s Department’s Safe Driving Class program, the lawsuit was filed on Wednesday in Wabasha County District Court.